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Monday, November 21, 2011

Maruti Suzuki India is planning to add more models with environment-friendly CNG option to its existing fleet of five such cars.(ET)

The Directorate General of Hydrocarbon has given a clean chit to Reliance Industries' capital expenditure of US$2.5bn spent up to 2007-08 in developing the KG-D6 gas fields because the CAG's audit has not quantified any loss to the exchequer.(ET)

Dr Reddy's Laboratories has requested the government to denotify its Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Medak in Andhra Pradesh. (ET)

There doesn't seem to be any respite from the ongoing pain in the equity markets across the globe as investors remain very nervous about the deteriorating fiscal conditions in the eurozone and dwindling fortunes for the Indian economy.

The Indian equity benchmarks slipped for a seventh straight trading session on Friday amid all-round selling. However, domestic stocks did recover in late trade with the NSE Nifty closing above 4,900. It had earlier dropped under the 4850 mark in the mid afternoon trades. The recovery was led by Oil & Gas and Pharma stocks. The BSE Sensex ended above the 16400 level.

The winter session of parliament starting on Tuesday could be an important sentiment driver for our markets. Thirty-one bills will come up for consideration and passage. A crucial Cabinet meeting to consider FDI in multi-brand retail will also be followed closely.

The opening is likely to be cold again due to weakness in the Asian markets. US markets closed flat on Friday while European indices finished mixed. The recent recovery that saw the Nifty test 5400 has fizzled out. If anything, it might re-test previous intermediate lows if FII outflows persist and global markets fail to recover.

Red metal prices at Comex ended modestly higher on Friday, 18 November 2011. Prices rose as some investors viewed supportive moves in currency markets as an opportunity to buy after the previous day's slide to one-week lows.

Copper for December delivery ended higher by 2 cent (0.6%) at $3.4 a pound at Comex on Friday. For the week, copper shed 1.7%.

Gold manages to hold on to gains while silver stages impressive performance

Precious metals ended modestly higher on Friday, 18 November 2011 at Comex. While gold managed to hold on to its gains, silver was much more impressive with its performance. Traders returned to bullions following latest drop in prices for precious metals.

Gold for December delivery ended higher by $4.9 or 0.3%, to end at $1,725.1 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday. Gold was under pressure for most of the day as many large funds have been selling positions in gold and other commodities. For the week, the yellow metal lost 3.5%. For the month of October, gold gained 6.3%. It registered a rise of 8% for the third quarter ending September.

Crude prices ended lower on Friday, 18 November at Nymex. With Friday's losses, crude ended lower for first time in seven weeks. Prices dropped due to persistent problems in the Eurozone and global economic concerns.

Light and sweet crude for December delivery fell $1.41 (1.4%) to $97.41 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday. The December contract, which expired at the end of trading on Friday, moved as high as $100.15 a barrel and as low as $98.01 a barrel. For the week, crude lost 1.6%. For the month of October, oil futures gained 18%. During the third quarter ending in September, crude incurred losses of 17%. It was the worst quarterly performance for crude in almost two years.

The market is poised for a weak start for the eight straight session mirroring weak Asian markets ahead of further details on plans from European leaders to contain burgeoning eurozone debt crisis. Trading of S&P CNX Nifty futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates a fall of 48.50 points at the opening bell.

Reliance Industries (RIL) after market hours on Friday said that RIL and BP have established India Gas Solutions a 50:50 joint venture company which will focus on global sourcing and marketing of natural gas in India. The joint venture will also develop infrastructure to accelerate transportation and marketing of natural gas within the country.